


mistletoe kiss

by CrazyPrepared (writerofberk)



Series: have yourself a merry little christmas [3]
Category: Trolls (Movies 2016 2020)
Genre: F/M, Mistletoe, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerofberk/pseuds/CrazyPrepared
Summary: Branch has wanted to kiss Poppy since he was fourteen.Just... not like this.
Relationships: Branch/Queen Poppy (Trolls)
Series: have yourself a merry little christmas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053290
Comments: 23
Kudos: 29





	mistletoe kiss

Branch doesn't want to do this.

He really doesn't want to do this, he just does not want to do this—not now, not here, not like this, not in front of _everyone_ , not in front of their friends, staring and staring and staring like they've never seen what trolls do under the mistletoe before, and holy Troll Tree, he is under the mistletoe with _Poppy_ , and isn't this what he _wants_ , isn't this what he's wanted since he was fourteen, hasn't he wanted to kiss her since he was fourteen, hasn't he wondered what it would feel like, to press his lips to hers, since he was fourteen, doesn't he want this, shouldn't he _want_ this, and what's wrong with him, that he _doesn't_ want this? Why doesn't he _want this_?

Because they're under the mistletoe, where he _has_ to kiss her, where he hasn't got a choice but to kiss her, and she hasn't got a choice but to stand there and let herself be kissed when she might not want it like he does, and that’s not fair, that’s not fair to her, to expect her to just stand there and let herself be kissed when she probably doesn’t want it, and even if she did, which she obviously doesn’t, mistletoe kisses mean absolutely nothing anyway, and if he ever kisses her, he wants it to _mean_ something. If he ever kisses her, he wants her to know what it means.

But more than that, he wants her to want it, too, and she doesn’t. 

And they're in front of their friends—Guy Diamond and Satin and Chenille, staring staring staring at him, all waiting for him, they're all waiting for him to kiss her, and he doesn't want to kiss her like this, where everyone can see and where she doesn’t want it and she can’t say _no_ and where it doesn't mean a damn thing anyway and—

Poppy leans up on her toes—and Branch's heart lurches, but he can't find the words to tell her she doesn't have to do this, she does _not_ have to do this, she can opt out, she can say no, she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't _want_ —

She drops a quick, light kiss on his cheek, her lips warm and soft against his snow-flecked skin, and she hasn't even pulled back before the flush floods his face, bright and blue and unmistakably _obvious_ out here in the white of winter, and Guy whistles loudly, and Satin and Chenille break out in giggles, and it would really be so much kinder if he could just die right here, please and thank you.

"Oh, well," Poppy murmurs, so low he can barely hear her over the furious pump and pound of his heart in his chest, so low he knows there's no chance the others will hear her over the snap of the wind and snow all around them, "maybe next time."

Branch's pumping and pounding heart stops, so maybe it's finally beat its way right out of his ribcage, the way it wants to every time she touches him or smiles at him or looks at him or even just stands too near him, and yes, he knows that's about a hundred different kinds of completely pathetic, but she just said _maybe next time_ —

And, with that, Poppy skips off, in a whirl of her pretty powder-blue skirt, back to her pod. Like she _didn't_ just turn the entire world on its head with three little words.

Satin and Chenille collapse into giggles again.

And Branch is still frozen, blushing and breathless and about a hundred different kinds of completely pathetic.

_Maybe next time._

**Author's Note:**

> 🎶 YOU CAN FIND ROMANCE AND A LOT OF BLISS THROUGH A SIMPLE MISTLETOE KISS 🎶
> 
> okay but ON GOD, Poppy's ridiculous overconfidence is so fun to write. y'all just KNOW she would have full-on frenched him right there if he hadn't looked so damn nervous. anyways I'm off to bake holiday cookies and sing very off-key Christmas carols!! 🎄 I'll see y'all tomorrow for the next piece!


End file.
